Russia drops bombs on Grozny

GROZNY, Russia (AP) - Russian warplanes bombed one of the main streets in Grozny and pounded residential areas today as part of a sustained assault on the besieged Chechen capital.

The Russians have intensified their bombardment of Grozny in the past week, leaving hundreds dead or wounded, destroying scores of buildings and homes, and keeping residents trapped in their basement shelters.

Today's bombing raid hit Grozny's Avtarkhanov Avenue, one of the city's main thoroughfares, as well as residential neighborhoods and a car market.

Witnesses said there were casualties, but no figures were immediately available.

The attacks have produced fresh waves of refugees fleeing the capital, but the border post with neighboring Ingushetia was closed today. The line of civilians trying to get out of Chechnya was more than a half-mile long at the crossing point, the Interfax news agency reported.

Almost 2,000 people left Chechnya on Sunday, but authorities shut the border post today because of computer problems that prevented them from properly registering the refugees, the report said.

With the military focusing much of its firepower on Grozny, Russian officials announced Sunday that the civilians still in the capital would be allowed to leave through a special corridor. Warplanes have been dropping leaflets on the city advertising the offer, Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Koshman said on Russia's NTV television.

However, many remaining civilians are still in the city because they are old, infirm or lack transportation. It was not immediately clear how the residents would be able to flee, even with the Russian offer.

Meanwhile, Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov claimed Chechen fighters had deliberately chosen not to launch a major counterattack against the Russians in order to leave open the possibility of peace talks.

But Russia has said it wants to destroy the militants before beginning any negotiations, and former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov said there was no one in Chechnya for Russia to negotiate with.

"Maskhadov does not control the militants," Primakov said.

Russian warplanes and helicopter gunships flew almost 100 sorties over Chechnya on Sunday, hitting fortified rebel positions and bridges, and dropping mines along roads, the military said in Moscow.

Most of the attacks targeted Grozny and the mountains in southern Chechnya, where the rebels still have large numbers of fighters.

Heavy fighting was also reported in Urus-Martan, 12 miles southwest of Grozny, where the Russians are trying to close off a major supply route and encircle the capital.

Zelimkhan Shimayev, a Chechen fighter who took part in Sunday's fighting, acknowledged that the rebels suffered some serious hits by federal forces. But he claimed the Russians were badly organized and were having trouble seizing the section of road closest to Urus-Martan.

Russia launched airstrikes on Chechnya in August with the stated aim of wiping out Islamic rebels who twice invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan this summer.

Russia has also blamed the rebels for apartment bombings that killed 300 people in several Russian cities.

The international community has put increasing pressure on Russia to halt the offensive, focusing its complaints on widespread civilian casualties and on the plight of the more than 220,000 refugees who have fled the fighting